Three years after he left the club for Bayern Munich, reputed Liverpool target Mario Gotze has returned to Borussia Dortmund.

Dortmund confirmed the acquisition of the 2014 World Cup winner this morning in a deal - subject to a medical - that will keep him at the club until at least 2020, for a fee of €26m.

On Tuesday, Munich chief executive Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and his Dortmund counterpart, Hans-Joachim Watzke, both confirmed that negotiations for the player’s services were taking place amid speculation that the former club were looking to recoup as much as possible of the £37m they paid for the 24-year-old in 2013.

At the time, Dortmund were reported to have offered €25m to bring Gotze back to the Westfalenstadion.

Gotze endured a difficult three seasons under Pep Guardiola, who used the attacker increasingly sparingly and, even with the arrival of Carlo Ancelotti at the Allianz Arena, the player has decided to move back to the club he joined as a child.

In total, Gotze made 73 appearances for the Bundesliga champions and scored 22 goals.

Having lost Matts Hummels, Ilkay Gundogan and Henrikh Mkhitaryan this summer, the capture of Gotze is a genuine boon for Thomas Tuchel’s side.

The hope will be that they can mould an potent attacking unit comprising club captain Marco Reus (celebrating with Gotze below), Gotze and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.